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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

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Old Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
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Last edit by: NewbieRunner
New thread for discussing 1-day test requirements for travellers arriving in the US by air
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2060730-us-require-air-travelers-provide-negative-test-within-1-day-departure.html

Entry ban from eight southern African countries starting on November 29, 2021

Most non-U.S. citizens who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique or Malaw within the prior 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/26/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/

Entry ban by air to be lifted on November 8, 2021 - All travelers should refer to CDC for travel requirements.

3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue (US citizens/LPR not vaccinated will have to test no earlier than 1 day prior) Children under 2 years old do not need to test.

Children under 18 are exempt from vaccination requirement
Accepted vaccines will include:
  • AstraZeneca
  • BIBP/Sinopharm
  • Covishield
  • Janssen/J&J
  • Moderna
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Sinovac
Vaccination certificates must come from an official source
There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old
Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases

Update on U.S. travel policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Last Updated: October 25, 2021

As announced by the White House today, the new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8. The CDCs website explains that, for purposes of entry into the United States, the accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.

COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Exceptions - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Last updated: October 25, 2021

The presidential proclamations described on this page will no longer be in effect on November 8, 2021. For additional information, please see Safely Resuming Travel by Vaccine Requirement and Rescission of Travel Restrictions on Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (travel.state.gov).

To protect the public health, there are four presidential proclamations that suspend entry into the United States of all noncitizens who were physically present in any of 33 countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. They are Presidential Proclamation 9984 (China); Presidential Proclamation 9992 (Iran); Presidential Proclamation 10143 (Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa); and Presidential Proclamation 10199 (India).

What we know so far is
- Confirmed to start on 8 November
- Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccine restrictions, so the varying international standards on jab ages won't be an issue here.

- Vaccines that are OK will include Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, J&J and the two Chinese vaccines.
- Some exemptions from vaccinations are potentially allowed, notably for US citizens, though my guess is airlines will be expecting to see vaccine certificates

- 3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue, so this needs to be a documented antigen/Lateral Flow test or PCR.
- 3 days is potentially more than 72 hours, departure on a Friday afternoon means a test on Tuesday morning or thereafter.
- NHS Lateral Flows and PCRs can't be used.
- Children over 2 years old travelling with vaccinated travellers have to be tested on the same basis (3 days).
- 1 day testing for unvaccinated USA legal residents (testing on or the day before departure), including their children.

- All passengers need to sign an attestment to confirm their negative test result and also a statement to confirm full vaccination status.
- Children who are not vaccinated do not need to get vaccinated but do need to get a "viral test" 3 to 5 days after arrival in the USA
- As a result there is a separate attestion question for unvaccinated children to confirm that the viral test is arranged.

- Vaccination certificates must come from an official source. The NHS COVID Pass app and EU DCC are specifically mentioned as acceptable.
- Vaccination is counted as two weeks from dose2, or 2 weeks after the sole dose in the case of J&J.
- Antibody certification is not a replacement for the need for vaccination, at least for non USA residents.
- 14 clear days need to elapse before travel. So if jabbed on 1 October then 15 October is when you are good to go.
- Booster vaccinations are not a factor here, they don't count towards or against the primary dose process.

- There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old.
- Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases.
- These restrictions do not apply at the land border.

Note that a lot of interpretation onus falls on airlines. For example there is no language requirement for vaccine certificates as far as the CDC is concerned, however you can imagine Air France may be hesitant in accepting a vaccine certificate issued in the Welsh language, to take one example.

CDC link
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...el-System.html


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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

 
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 6:39 am
  #2521  
 
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Originally Posted by NewbieRunner
Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor, on Twitter:



https://twitter.com/bbcjonsopel/stat...256371721?s=21
UK and France have great apps and the rest of the world no? The whole EU+ has an interoperable system with on the spot validation while the US has a mickey mouse cdc card.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 7:11 am
  #2522  
 
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Mixed vaccine

My husband and I are both double vaxxed with different first and second doses - one of which is AstraZenica. What is US policy on flying to US?
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 7:31 am
  #2523  
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While Federal Government is charged with decision to lift travel ban, it's indiv states who decide what policies to implement for new arrivals.
Maybe I misunderstood something: I thought US CBP is responsible to enforce federal immigration laws. If a State has additional testing/quarantine requirements (e.g. HI), then it is up for the State (e.g. State Troopers) to enforce this. Where am I wrong here?

1st issue is agreeing a standard for validating someone is double vaxxed. UK and France have great apps, not so in rest of world.
Here I would assume that some Biden Administration bureaucrats just don't care or do not get the concept of the EU (and it's vaccine certification scheme).

Last edited by NewbieRunner; Oct 7, 2021 at 11:02 am Reason: Merge consecutive posts by same member
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 8:11 am
  #2524  
 
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The US does not currently even look at your vaccination status. As for what will be required come November -- no one knows.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 9:38 am
  #2525  
 
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Originally Posted by warakorn
Well, I do not disagree with you. But apparently you do not get my point. My point is that I doubt that a significant number of UK families are currently comitting fresh cash for USA travel bookings for this November.
And there is a noticeable difference between looking/planing a trip and booking a trip (tying up real cash). Moreover, I cannot comprehend how booking a USA trip now for November would relieve stress - on the contrary; such people are literally forced to investigate each day whether they are any hard news regarding the travel ban.
Dont forget a number of people have flight vouchers to spend - its not necessarily fresh cash. And the chart above shows significant interest in booking as soon as the announcement was made. As others have said, the general public are now expecting the US to be open for business in early November as they were told.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 10:08 am
  #2526  
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Originally Posted by warakorn
Maybe I misunderstood something: I thought US CBP is responsible to enforce federal immigration laws. If a State has additional testing/quarantine requirements (e.g. HI), then it is up for the State (e.g. State Troopers) to enforce this. Where am I wrong here?
Correct, but the federal government probably doesn't want to just go "we'll check for vaccine certificates, then it's a free for all" but want each state to have the proper follow-up protocols in place. E.g. if they want to mandate a post-arrival test like many other countries have, it'd be up to the states to enforce this. There's all sorts of considerations that go into something like this, counter to popular "the government just doesn't care, LET ME IN" belief...
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 10:18 am
  #2527  
 
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It does indeed seem a bit laughable that the federal government is concerned with documents from other EU countries while all we get is a CDC card...
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 12:26 pm
  #2528  
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Originally Posted by Smiley90
Correct, but the federal government probably doesn't want to just go "we'll check for vaccine certificates, then it's a free for all" but want each state to have the proper follow-up protocols in place. E.g. if they want to mandate a post-arrival test like many other countries have, it'd be up to the states to enforce this.
Sorry, but this is the first time that I am hearing that the US Federal Government was contemplating about post-arrival testing.

As Florida is a popular destinations for destination, the Biden Administration would be mad to think about negotiating with the Florida State Government (DeSantis) about the enforcement and tracking about post-arrival tests.

No, I think that State issue pertains to the situation in Hawaii (and possibly California). In order the enter Hawaii the State mandates that a person either presents a US-issued vaccination certificate or a pre-arrival test (taken at selection of HI-approved labs). That basically makes it almost impossible for foreigners (esp. Europeans) to enter Hawaii - from overseas (e.g. from YVR). My assumption is that the Biden Administration is aiming to streamline everything.

What I don't understand - Has no one (e.g. representatives of the travel industry) so far attempted to challenge the Schengen/Ireland/UK Travel Ban in front of a Federal Court? Why not?
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Last edited by warakorn; Oct 7, 2021 at 12:39 pm
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 1:11 pm
  #2529  
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Originally Posted by warakorn
Sorry, but this is the first time that I am hearing that the US Federal Government was contemplating about post-arrival testing.

As Florida is a popular destinations for destination, the Biden Administration would be mad to think about negotiating with the Florida State Government (DeSantis) about the enforcement and tracking about post-arrival tests.

No, I think that State issue pertains to the situation in Hawaii (and possibly California). In order the enter Hawaii the State mandates that a person either presents a US-issued vaccination certificate or a pre-arrival test (taken at selection of HI-approved labs). That basically makes it almost impossible for foreigners (esp. Europeans) to enter Hawaii - from overseas (e.g. from YVR). My assumption is that the Biden Administration is aiming to streamline everything.

What I don't understand - Has no one (e.g. representatives of the travel industry) so far attempted to challenge the Schengen/Ireland/UK Travel Ban in front of a Federal Court? Why not?
Similar issue as when the Trump administration banned entry from Muslim-majority country a couple years ago - the president has wide-ranging powers over admission criteria, and as long as proper protocol in enacting the rule is followed (which was the problem legislatively with the Trump Muslim ban), there's not much anyone can do. Think about it this way - to bring a suit requires standing. Which person currently in the US is being harmed by not being allowed to enter the US from Europe directly? The answer is nobody, because everyone is already here. Same reason e.g. I can't sue North Korea for not letting me in.

Given that two different presidencies of two different parties have had the same ban, you can be virtually guaranteed that if there was an issue, either side would've sued by now.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 1:18 pm
  #2530  
 
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I've just realised that I only have until Monday to decide if I'm keeping my BA Holidays booking for the 2nd November.

Pretty certain I wont take the risk, but ugh... the possibility that I might cancel and the US reopens in time is gnawing at me.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 1:20 pm
  #2531  
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I think more of the frustration is that they, government, knew that they would have had to open up at some stage in the future but there would appear to be no co-ordination at a state or federal level. You would have thought that states dependent on a mix of domestic and international tourists, Florida is a good example, would be putting pressure on El Presidente to say "who owns this, and what's the plan?". It's very disappointing to say the least. The UKs may be unfathomable, confusing, leaves you shaking your head, but at the end of the day people can get in and out.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 1:43 pm
  #2532  
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Originally Posted by Silver Fox
I think more of the frustration is that they, government, knew that they would have had to open up at some stage in the future but there would appear to be no co-ordination at a state or federal level. You would have thought that states dependent on a mix of domestic and international tourists, Florida is a good example, would be putting pressure on El Presidente to say "who owns this, and what's the plan?". It's very disappointing to say the least. The UKs may be unfathomable, confusing, leaves you shaking your head, but at the end of the day people can get in and out.
History has shown there will be no cooperation between the Florida Governor and Biden on covid rules.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 1:51 pm
  #2533  
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But it is my guess that Florida is not the issue here.
1. The Biden Administration has never mentioned any federal post-arrival test requirement.
2. The DeSantis Administration is certainly not going to mandate a state post-arrival test requirement.

In my eyes the issue is Hawaii. That State has instituted it's own entry requirements.
Streamling such State and Federal requirements is at issue here - this is my 2 cents.
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Old Oct 7, 2021, 2:16 pm
  #2534  
 
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Originally Posted by TomMM
And if states wish to set their own requirements they damn well better apply to all travelers, not just INTL people.
I seriously doubt any state will institute any kind of restrictions on international travelers, except for Hawaii.

Originally Posted by warakorn
What I don't understand - Has no one (e.g. representatives of the travel industry) so far attempted to challenge the Schengen/Ireland/UK Travel Ban in front of a Federal Court? Why not?
My guess is because the US travel industry can survive on the domestic market for a good long while, and didn't see the point in making a big stink when they'd likely lose. They'd certainly prefer to have the international market back, but they can live without it for a while.

Originally Posted by TomMM
History has shown there will be no cooperation between the Florida Governor and Biden on covid rules.
Or anything else.

Last edited by LETTERBOY; Oct 7, 2021 at 5:29 pm Reason: spelling error
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Old Oct 8, 2021, 4:48 am
  #2535  
 
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Grant Shapps apparently did the media rounds this morning, still confidently stating the early Nov target. Clearly not someone to place any reliance on, but his thoughts should hold more credence than Paul Charles, Sopel and other journo's that just hide behind anonymous sources.
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Last edited by NewbieRunner; Oct 14, 2021 at 1:34 am Reason: Minister’s name
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